Goodbye, Hellmouth Hello, Problems
by FanyFanyTiffany
Summary: After the Hellmouth has been destroyed, the gang realizes that their old problems may not have completely gone away. Willow and Kennedy have to fight together to save the gang, and to save their relationship. Kennedy/Willow story. Maybe some side coupes?
1. Goodbye, Hellmouth Hello, Problems

_Hey guys! So I've had this story written down on paper for quite some time, and I've decided that I might as well put it out there for others to read._

_It's about 85 hand-written pages._

_So, depending on wether or not you guys like it, I'll continue to post chapters. _

_So please review! I can always edit the story if you don't like the way it's going._

They stood at the edge of the crater, staring into the deep depths that they had all called home at one time. No one said a word as they all broke off into their own groups to have a moment to really absorb what had just happened.

Xander didn't move. He couldn't move. He was so overcome by emotion, that he didn't know what to do, or where to go. He simply took a few steps towards the edge and continued to stare down into the hole. He went into the high school with the one he loved, and left without her.

His gaze fell to the ground as he choked back the tears that were threatening to cloud his vision. He picked up a small rock and chucked it into the crater, hearing a small _tap _as it hit the bottom.

"Take that Hellmouth!" He yelled, not realizing how loud the echo might be. About 15 feet from him a large chunk of the cliff broke off and fell down into the crater.

"I think it heard you." Dawn said as she joined him at the edge. She placed her hand on his back, silently guiding him away from the edge and back towards the bus.

"Good…" he mumbled as his feet shuffled along the dirt path. He noticed that Willow was sitting on the cliff, letting her feet hang over the rocky edge.

"I'll catch up with you, Dawn." He said as he wandered over to his friend, taking a seat next to her.

"It's a lot to take in…" Willow practically whispered as she stared straight across the top. "I can still imagine what everything looked like. The school, my house, the streets… But they're all gone…"

"Yeah… " He let out a choppy sigh and Willow placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. "It's was our home, Will. As dangerous, scary, and unpredictable as it was, it was all I had." A tear ran down his cheek, "Now she's gone…"

"Hey," Willow could tell he wasn't just talking about Sunnydale anymore, "It's okay." She flashed him a sad grin, "It'll be okay."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because I went through the same thing."

Xander gave a _oh yeah_ face and looked down at his hands, avoiding eye contact with the witch.

"Yep… I think we've seen just about every scary thing that you can imagine. But nothing prepares you for losing someone you love… Nothing." Willow copied his actions by avoiding eye contact.

After a few moments of deep thought, she spoke again, "Xander, I know how you feel right now. And it feels pretty bad. Really bad, actually. And it's not just going to go away with a hug and a kiss. It's going to hurt pretty bad for quite some time."

"Will, I don't think this is helping too much."

"I'm not done… It's going to hurt for a long time. But not forever." He looked up at her and she continued, "It'll hurt for a few months. And a little less in the weeks after that. And the days following that it'll hurt even less. Till one day you'll wake up and it won't be the first thing on your mind."

"I just don't know where I'm going to go from here… I don't want to forget about her…" He mumbled with tears in his eyes.

"You won't… You never will… But you'll accept that this is the way things were meant to be." She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and laid her head against his neck, "And then one day you'll fall in love with someone, and they will be on your mind all the time."

"I sure hope so…" Xander trailed off.

The two of them sat there for a few minutes in complete silence, just enjoying each other's company.

"Oh crap…" Xander said as he put his hands up to his eyes.

"What?" Willow looked over at him, but didn't notice anything irregular.

"My eye patch is all soggy…" He took it off and rung it out.

Willow burst out into a fit of giggles at the sight of the patch on his face.

"It's not funny, Will! It is totally distracting from my manly pirate look!" Xander replaced it on his head and nudged Willow on the shoulder a little as he let a smile shine through. He stood up and offered his hand to Willow. "Come on. We should get back to everyone else. I'm sure they could use some help tending to the injured."

Willow grabbed his hand lightly and began to stand, but quickly lost her balance and found herself relying fully on the grasp that he friend had on her.

"Woah! You alright?" He asked helping her to fully gain control of her balance.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine…" She said blinking a few times, trying to get her vision clear and back to normal.

"Are you sure? I mean, that was a pretty intense spell that you had to do back there. It probably took a lot out of you."

"I think I just got up too quickly, that's all." She let go of him and they both started walking back towards the bus.

"Hey Buff! Lookin' good!" Xander smiled at Buffy as she was walking past them. Her stomach was bound tight with bandages from her stab wound.

"Not lookin' so bad yourself!" She joked, walking over to her friends.

"So how's everything goin'?" Xander asked.

"Pretty good. Wood and Rona are beat up pretty bad, but they'll make it." Buffy looked over to Willow, "How about you? Big spell back there, lots of mojo goin' on. You okay?"

"I'm fine Buffy. You should be more focused on where we are going next."

"I know, I was actually on my way to go talk to Giles. We need to figure out how far we are going to be able to drive in this thing without getting noticed."

"Subtly will be a key feature in the Slayer mobile." Xander chimed in, causing the two girls to send him strange looks. "What? We need to name it sometime!"

"Yea…" Buffy said, walking towards Giles

"Uh huh…" Willow did the same, but heading back towards the bus.

Just as Willow was turning around the back of the bus, she saw Kennedy walking down the steps with a worried look on her face.

Kennedy looked around for a moment, and then spotted Willow. Without a second thought, she walked over to the redhead and engulfed her in a huge hug.

"Um… Okay… What's with the 'huggy Kennedy'? You're never 'huggy Kennedy'. Not that I mind or anything! Just curious."

"Just glad you're okay." She let go of Willow and took a small step back and began looking Willow up and down. "You ARE okay, right?"

"Yes! I'm fine! Would everybody stop worrying? I'm fine! Everyone thinks I'm going to explode or something because I did a little magic."

"Well, the last time you did, you sort of… freaked." Kennedy tried to say it gently, but it stung just as much as if she didn't. Willow took a step back and folder her arms across her chest.

"Yeah…" Willow mumbled softly as she turned to walk away.

"Willow… I didn't mean… I-" Kennedy shouted after her.

Willow sat down on the other side of the bus trying to clear her head. She knew that she had a bad reputation for doing large spells, but she was really working hard on it. She didn't need to hear criticism from anyone else, let alone her girlfriend.

"Willow…" Kennedy rounded the corned of the bus and found Willow sitting on the ground, leaning up against the tire of the bus. "What I said… I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did." Willow cut her off, looking down to her feet, forcing herself to just ignore the fact that she wanted to just run into Kennedy's arms and for all of this to just go away.

"I'm just worried." Kennedy knelt down at Willow's side, "I worry about you. I just… You… You ARE okay, right?" Willow's eyes met hers, "I mean- not that you don't look okay- you actually look better than okay… But I… uh…" Kennedy normally would never stammer, but there was something about Willow's eyes that threw her off sometimes.

"I'm fine, Kennedy." Willow leaned forward to stand up when Kennedy reached over and began helping her up. "I'm fine! Really, Kennedy. I'm fine."

Kennedy put her hands in her pockets and watched carefully as Willow stood up on her own.

"I'm fine… I'm fine… I'm.." Willow just kept repeating the two words over and over, each time getting less and less convincing. "I'm fine…"

"Willow?" Kennedy noticed that Willow was losing her balance.

"I'm… I… I'm fine… I'm… Fi-" Willow's knees game out, sending her straight to the ground. Kennedy reached her arms down and caught her just in time.

"Willow?" No answer. "Willow!" Still nothing. Kennedy put her ear down and heard Willow breathing lightly. Kennedy picked her up in her arms with ease, and headed back towards the bus doors.

"He Kenn, what's- oh my god." Vi ran off the buss and over to Kennedy's side.

"Get the doors." Kennedy commanded.

She carried Willow onto the bus and to the back, laying her down on the bench. She could feel all the potentials eyes on her, but she didn't care.

"Can someone get some water?" She shouted over her shoulder. Within moments Xander showed up behind her holding a bottle of water.

"What's going on? Is she okay? What happened?"

"She fainted in the sun. I'm not sure if it was dehydration or-"

"The spell." Giles finished for her. He passed Xander and began inspecting Willow for any injury. "What happened RIGHT before she passed out?"

"She kept saying 'I'm fine I'm fine' over and over. She sounded kinda crazy…" Kennedy mumbled the last part, "Why? Is this because of the spell she did?"

"Not exactly…" Giles said as he took her pulse.

Buffy walked over "He guys what's all the- Willow." She stopped in her tracks and stared at her friend, "Is she alright?"

"She passed out. And I think Giles knows why…" Kennedy said, directing the last statement towards the ex-watcher kneeling next to her.

"Giles what do you know?" Buffy asked taking a small step towards him.

"Dawn…" He said mumbling slightly.

"What?" Kennedy was completely lost at this point.

"Dawn. I need Dawn…" He pulled a few notes out of his front pocket and began reading over them.

Buffy walked off the bus and Xander followed. He walked over to Faith, who was attempting to stitch up Wood. Buffy walked over to her younger sister, who was talking to some of the other girls.

"Dawn… Giles needs you…"

"What is it?" She said getting up and straightening the bottom hem of her shirt.

"Just come with me…" Buffy walked with her sister back onto the bus.

Kennedy was still kneeling down on the floor of the bus. Her eyes were locked on Willow as she pushed a strand of hair out of Willow's face and behind her ear. Giles was now sitting in the row in front of them reading a couple of books that he had brought.

"What's going on guys?" Dawn said as she approached the group in the back. "Shouldn't Willow be awake for this?"

"Dawn… Willow sort of…" Buffy started

"Amy's spell…" Dawn mumbled to herself.

"What?" Buffy turned to her, with complete confusion in her eyes.

"It's Amy's spell, isn't it?" Dawn turned to Giles who took off his glasses and began wiping them on a small handkerchief he has in his pocket.

"I'm afraid so…" He sighed as he replaced his glassed on his head.

"Okay… someone is going to tell me what is going on, and they are going to tell me now…" Kennedy stood up and put her hands on her hips, waiting for a response.

"Well… The curse that Amy put on Willow, the Penance Malediction, doesn't just go away after one visual trick. The one that Amy put on her shows itself when she is feeling incredibly stressed, or guilty."

"So how do we get rid of it?" Kennedy asked.

"You can't…" He retorted.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I mean, unless you find and kill Amy, the curse will just keep taking over Willow until it kills her. And with the rate that it is moving, I wouldn't give her a lot of time."

The back of the bus fell silent as everyone realized the reality of Willow's situation.

"So how do I find Amy?" Kennedy broke the silence.

"This isn't some problem you could solve with brute strength or a few charms…" Giles began.

"Hey guys?" Dawn's comment was ignored.

"You'd have to track down a powerful witch and kill her. Something that won't be easy." Giles finished

"Guys?" Dawn tried again, but failed.

"I'm not just going to sit by and-" "You guys!" Dawn caught everyone's attention with a loud yell.

"What?" The two of them yelled at the same time.

"Look…" Everyone followed Dawn's gaze over to Willow.

"Oh my god…" Giles took a small step towards Willow, trying to get a better look.

Willow's hair was pitch black, and large black veins were slowly showing up on her pale, white skin.

"Willow… No…" Kennedy said as she let herself fall to her knees next to her girlfriend.

_Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review! And email me if you have any ideas that might help move the story along._

_-Tiffany_


	2. A Snake, a Shield, and a Witch

_Hey guys! So I decided because I already have the entire story hand-written, I might as well type it up post the entire thing one chapter at a time._

_So please write a review; it helps me figure out wether I am taking the story in the right direction or not. I'm not a professional writer or anything. Just like it as my hobby._

_Thanks! Enjoy!_

"Willow… No…" Kennedy said as she let herself fall to her knees next to her girlfriend.

"Hey guys! Havin' a little party in the back of the-" He stopped in his tracks when he saw the black-haired witch lying just a few feet away, "Oh my god… No… Not again. I can't handle another round of this…" He backed up as he spoke, nearly tripping over the seats protruding from either side of the bus. He turned to run off the bus, but Buffy stopped him.

"Andrew. Just keep this quiet, okay?" She stared deep into his eyes, "We're not too sure what's going on right now, but we don't want any trouble. And that's exactly what we might get if you go scaring all the girls outside. So please… Just keep your mouth shut for once."

"A-and what if I don't? You gunna have evil-red kill me?" Andrew swallowed hard as his mind jumped to the last time he had experienced the dark side of the witch.

"If you don't keep your mouth shut, I'll shut it for you… Not git…" Buffy said as she let go of his arm, shoving him off a little. She turned back to everyone surrounding Willow. They all stared at her with wide eyes, slightly surprised at the aggressiveness she just used against Andrew.

"So what do we do now?" Dawn asked. She was unable to take her eyes off of Willow, in fear that something might happen the moment she looked elsewhere.

"I'm not sure… Giles?" Buffy looked to her former Watcher.

"Well… I don't have a lot of books with me; and the books I did bring may not even be of any use… But we can try."

"Good… Then get out what you have. If Willow is in trouble, she needs us now. So we need to get to work." Buffy cut her inspirational speech short, and Giles pulled out a large bag containing several folders and books.

"Hey guys," Faith walked to the back of the bus, not noticing anything totally irregular, "We're going to get going, alright? Wood and Rona really need to get to a hospital, and everyone seems to be ready to kick off the journey."

"Sounds good, Faith." Buffy said, catching Faiths gaze.

"So, where are we going?" Dawn asked

"LA. Angel said that we can stay at his hotel, being that it's huge and all." Buffy answered, picking up a large book that read _Curses and Charms_.

The engine started and the bus took off, heading to LA.

(A few minutes ago, in Willow's mind)

"I'm fine… I'm fi-" Her eye lids began to close and she could feel herself falling to the ground, but never abruptly hitting it. Willow fell into a deep, calming slumber. A slumber that was interrupted by a voice that haunted her dreams.

"Well, well, well… If it isn't cute, sweet Willow." The voice traveled, along with it's owner, in front of Willow.

_I know that voice! But… No! It can't be!_

"Hey red." Amy materialized in front of her, baring a large, evil smirk.

"W-what's going on? Did you do this? Where am I?" Willow stood up and topok a few steps back, away from Amy. Her eyes scanned the darkness, only to find more darkness.

"Don't worry! I'm the only one here." Amy disappeared and her voice began to carry around the room. Willow stun around trying to follow the voice, or catch a glimpse of Amy. "No big monsters that go bump in the night. Just… Well…" She suddenly materialized in from of Willow, "Me!"

Willow jumped back as Amy disappeared again. She spun around and around again, trying desperately to find any sort of exit or any sign of something besides the dark.

"What do you want?" she shouted, "Did you do this to me?" Willow's voice grew louder even though internally, she was quaking with fear.

"Of course I did this to you!" Amy materialized in front of her, about 30 feet away. Although she was quite far away, her voice filled Willow's ears, "Who else would have the guts to try and bother Little Ol'Willow? And as far as what I want," She began taking small, slow steps towards Willow, "I want your power. Is it really SO hard for you people to realize that? It's not even a hard thing to figure out! It's ALL about power!"

"What do you mean by 'you people'? Who else are you talking about?" Willow crossed her arms and stared at Amy, trying to get into her head, but it was failing.

"I'm reffering to your new girl. Kennedy, right?" Willow tensed at the name. Amy had no right to talk about Kennedy like that. "Yea… She was a very important aspect of that little gift I gave you. You know," Willow tensed again as Amy began toying with her mind, "That curse you've been sporting around for the past year. I'd bet Kennedy finds this whole game quite exciting. And we're only into the second round!"

"I'll find a way to remove it… You can't keep this hold on me forever…" Willow tried to hide the guilt that she had written all over her face.

"Oh my god… You haven't told her have you?" Amy took a few steps closer to her, trying to look her straight in the eyes. "You've been trying to get rid of it yourself! Oh this is rich!"

"That's none of your concern!" Amy was really starting to get on Willow's last nerve.

"This is going to be the best game yet…" Amy's smile grew even more menicing as she stared at the redhead.

"Just let me out of here Amy… You don't have to do this."

"But that would be no fun! After ruining me, you deserve to be played with a little." Amy lifter her arms and pointed her hands straight at Willow. She pressed her hands together; creating a blue light that grew brighter by the second, and then released it. The light sent a bolt of lighting straight towards Willow. The shock sent Willow a few feet back, and resulted in her lying on her back, not moving.

"Oh, come on Willow! You aren't one to just give up THAT easy! Or at least not the Willow I knew…" Amy wasn't paying enough attention to realize that Willow wasn't resting. She was chanting a spell in Latin soft enough to not be heard, "Come on! Don't make me go straight to my nest step… Because when you think I'm done with you, I will find her. I will find her and I will destroy her piece-by-piece."

Willow's eyes flashed black for a moment, and she rose off the ground without moving a muscle. She landed on her feet and stared Amy in the eye.

"Bad move, Amy."

Amy panicked and sent several bolts of lightning towards Willow.

"Declino." Willow waved her hand, and the bolts turned into a cloudy mist, grazing her skin softly.

Amy muttered a short spell and 5 sharp blades materialized and flew at Willow. The redhead snapped her fingers and put her hands up, causing the blades to stop directly in her tracks and felling to the floor.

Amy lowered her hands to her sides and began a chant of her own. She faced the ground, letting her hair shade her face, and she began to slowly rise off the ground, letting her limbs dangle at her sides.

"Amy, I'm giving you another chance. Back down." Willow was trying her best to stay calm, but her words just angered Amy more.

"Oh red… I'm just getting started." Amy began to sweat heavily as she continued her chant. With every word her voice got louder and louder. It was echoing in Willow's ears as if there were walls all around her.

The ground began to crack, and snakes of all sizes and colors emerged from deep within the black crust. They gained speed as they raced towards Willow. Each time one of the snakes would bump into another, they would join together, creating an even larger snake. This happened over and over until only one giant snake loomed over Willow.

"Alright," Willow swallowed hard, "You asked for it." Willow closed her eyes and concentrated on the task at hand. A force field speared around her in a moderately sized bubble, leaving her in a small but save environment for the time being. The Dome was made of a thick sort of magical glass, that would only break on her command.

"Lacerta! Penetro!" Amy shouted at the snake, hoping that it's mighty power would be able to crush the magical barrier. It lashed at it a few times, but backed off after several hits. "Come on Will! You can't hide in that bubble forever!"

"Wasn't planning on it." Willow burst out of the shield, shattering it and killing the large snake with one of the fragments of glass. She threw her hands to her sides and flew into the air, becoming level with Amy.

"Now for the fun part." Amy began to ready herself to sent another attack towards Willow. But something stopped her. Willow's hair flushed black and her eyes shot open, revealing a sort of crystal green, glowing from within. "Well, that's new." Amy smiled at the challenge that Willow was presenting.

Willow went into battle with Amy for what felt like hours. She destroyed every demon, monster, or spell that Amy could conjure up. Whenever she could feel herself being consumed by the hate and anger within her, she could sense some sort of higher power comforting her from afar. It wasn't a lot, but it was helping Willow hold onto her humanity. It was helping her stay grounded.

(Same time on the bus)

Kennedy gently dabbed Willow's forehead with a damp cloth that she had taken from the first-aid box. She watched Willow attentively, noticing every time that Willow would tense up or twitch slightly in her mystical slumber. She constantly tried new things to calm her down, but it would only last a moment or two.

The strain on Willow's face was very real. It wasn't an expression one might get from a bad dream, it was an expression of someone in genuine danger. She began to stir more than usual, trashing her legs slightly. Kennedy grabbed both of Willow's hand and held them tight.

"I'm right here Will… You don't have to worry. Everything's going to be fine." Kennedy whispered into her ear as she kissed Willow's hands.

Willow calmed down a little and her expression softened, giving Kennedy a moment of peace.

(Same time in Willow's mind)

Hundreds of demonic bodies covered the floor surrounding the two witches.

"Necto!" Willow commanded as Amy was forced into a large metal chair, which magically chained her down instantly. Her arms, legs, fingers, and even her neck were held tightly in the chair.

"Looks like you've got the upper hand, kid. I'm surprised. But, it's not like you can kill me, or anything…"Amy only laughed hysterically at the situation.

"Well then why the hell are you trying to kill me?"

"Didn't I JUST give you the whole 'it's about power' speech?" Amy was becoming increasingly annoyed, "If I die here I'll be fine. But if you die here, you'll never wake up"

"So you're saying this is some sort of dream-state…" Willow was finally putting the pieces together. The place she was in was limiting her. She was so focused on not going evil, that she wasn't paying as much attention as she normally would.

"Ding-Ding! We have a winner!" Amy mocked, "Here… I'll spell it out for you. You're under a spell. I put the spell on you. I kill you here, and you die. You kill me here, and I wake up. Get the picture yet? Or do you need me to draw you a picture…"

"So this is just a mentally manifested fight…"

"Yes! Dream-state! We covered that! Can we move on now?"

"I can fix that…" Willow took several steps back from Amy.

"You can't run away Willow!" Amy shouted, "I'll just find you!"

"Silentium! Firmus!" Willow shouted back at her. Amy's mouth shut tight and she sat still as a statue.

Willow sat down on the ground and put up another force field as she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Her hair faded back to it's natural red, and her eyes returned to their normal, non-glowing, state.

An idea struck her and she opened her eyes. "Materia," she muttered. A piece of paper and a pen popped up on the floor in front of her. She began scribbling down a letter. Once she had finished she folded it into fourths and put it in her pocket. She then resumed her mediation, concentrating on getting herself to wake up. Her vision blurred and she could feel herself lying down.

(Same time on the Bus)

Willow's hair had faded hack to red a few minutes ago, but Kennedy still worried about her. Kennedy was sitting on the edge of the bench with her eyes glued to the beautiful redhead that was lying down at her side.

Kennedy watched Willow as she began to stir gently. She held onto Willow's hands, not wanting her to begin thrashing about. This time that Willow stirred she groaned slightly, almost as if she was trying to say something. Kennedy held Willow's hand tighter and she placed one hand on Willow's cheek, caressing it gently with her thumb.

Willow's eyes had fluttered open for a moment, but returned to their closed position.

"Willow? Will, baby, can you hear me?" Kennedy was holding onto every piece of hope that she could gather.

Willow's eyes opened fully and began to adjust to the light. She found herself staring into Kennedy's eyes.

"Willow…" Kennedy sighed, relieved that she had returned to her safely.

Willow began to sit up, and Kennedy helped her the rest of the way. The two just sat there for a moment, while Willow was gathering her thoughts. At first everything was kind of blurry, but she managed to get it all together in her mind. She stood up promptly and started off down the isle.

"Where are you going?" Kennedy got up with her.

"I have to talk to Buffy. Stay here, I'll be right back…" Willow headed up the isles and looked left and right for her best friend. She found her sitting towards the front, trying to catch some shut-eye.

"Buffy." Willow said as she sat down. Buffy's eyes fluttered opan she she glanced up at her friend for a brief moment.

"Hey Will…" She thought nothing of it at first. "Willow!" She shot up and stared at her friend. "Hey! How are you? Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don't have a lot of time to explain everything. But, more than anything right now, I need you to trust me."

"Always."

"Here." Willow handed Buffy the folded up piece of paper.

"What's this?" Buffy began to unfold it.

"Don't' read it… But if something happens to me-"

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Will."

"Buff listen… If anything happens to me, I want you to give that to Kennedy. But only if I don't make it out of this, alright?" Willow spoke in a hushed tone, careful not to let anyone hear them. Every few seconds she could feel herself getting pulled back towards the dream-state.

"Okay… Yea. I can do that." Willow started to get up and walk to the back of the bus, but Buffy stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.

"Wait." Buffy pulled her into a hug. "If you're going to be all morbid, then I at least get a hug out of the deal."

Willow just smiled in response and returned the hug.

"And Will, promise me when you get the chance, you'll explain all of this to me? You'll tell me how I can help?"

"I promise." Willow smiled at her blonde- haired bestie and headed off towards the back of the bust once more.

She saw that Kennedy was sitting on the bench, staring at the ground. She felt the pull back to unconsciousness once again, but she get her mind together.

"Hey." Willow said softly, unsure how to say anything to her at the moment.

"Hey!" Kennedy stood up as soon as she realized that Willow had returned, "How are you?"

"I'm… I'm good…" They both stood there awkwardly for a moment, both unsure of what should be said in a situation like this.

"So…" Kennedy began.

Before Kennedy could tell what had happened, Willow engulfed her in a hug, holding her tighter than she ever had before.

"Woah…" Kennedy said as Willow practically threw herself at her. But, although she was startled, she didn't protest; instead, she returned the hug with just as much love. Kennedy pulled Willow close and let herself be consumed in the embrace.

"Kennedy…" Willow pulled back from the hug and held Kennedy's hands in her own. She stared the slayer in the eyes and tried to think of something to say, "I… We just…"

Kennedy interrupted her by closing the space between them. Willow melted into the kiss, letting go of the problems at hand for just a moment. A tingle went up her spine and at that moment she knew how she truly felt for Kennedy. She could feel herself going weak at the knees, and Kennedy caught her, holding her close in her arms.

After a few moments, the two broke apart, still holding each other.

"Kennedy…" Willow tried to explain what had to be done. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay… You're back now." The two of them had their foreheads pressed against each other, just enjoying the fact that they were close.

"No… I'm sorry… I have to go back." Willow mumbled regretfully.

_So how did you like it? Please write a review!_

_I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow (maybe even tonight ;D)_


	3. The Bus

_Hey guys! I am SO sorry I haven't been posting!_

_My computer broke and I had to find a way to get my hands on a new one and re-type this last chapter._

_The chapter is shorter that I would have liked, but I just wanted to get it out there so you guys know I'm still here._

_So I hope you all like it!_

_Read and Review!_

"No… I'm sorry… I have to go back." Willow mumbled regretfully.

"You have to do _what_?" Kennedy look Willow in the eye, hoping that she heard her wrong.

"I have to go back into the vision." Willow said fighting off the pull towards the dream-stare once again.

"Why? I mean… You just…" Kennedy was trying to figure out what was going on. "Will, I just got you back…"

"I know. But I just need a little more time. I promise, if I get out of this we'll be spending every day together."

"You mean _when_ you get back…" Kennedy was again hoping she heard her wrong. Willow just gave her a sad smile and sat down. "Well I guess the least I can do is be here for you." Kennedy sat down sideways on the bench, leaning up against the wall of the bus. Willow lowered herself down so that she was leading up against Kennedy's body.

"Kennedy, I just want to say thanks. For being here throughout this whole mess. I mean-"

"It's my pleasure." Kennedy smiled at her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her, "And besides, I don't have anywhere else to go." She joked, looking up to see that the bus was still moving quickly.

"I guess that's true." Willow smiled and turned her head around capturing Kennedy in another kiss. It was soft and slow, but it meant a lot for both of them. Will turned back around and snuggled into her girlfriend. "Wish me luck…"

Willow's eyes opened and she had returned to the dream-state…

"Actually Willow… Before you go back into the vision thing..." Kennedy was trying to find the words to explain how she felt, "I just wanted to say that you mean a lot to me… And that I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."

With no response from Willow, she decided to just drop the bomb and see what would happen.

"I-uh… I think I'm in love with you, Willow." Kennedy said it as abruptly as a person could. And what scared her must was not the fact of Willow rejecting her, but the fact that Willow didn't respond at all. "Willow?" She leaned forward a little, only to find that Willow was asleep, "F**k…" Kennedy leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, trying desperately to fall asleep.

(In Willow's Mind)

Willow got pulled back into her dream-state, only to find that Amy was trying to break into her shield from the chair. Willow stood up and put her hands up, countering the spells that Amy was sending her way.

Willow let the shield drop in an instant, causing it to explode and send Amy, and the chair, back several feet. The blow didn't faze her as much as Willow hoped it would.

Amy stopped casting, and Willow just stood there staring her in the eyes. She walked up to Amy and removed the mystical restraint on her mouth, letting her speak. Immediately Amy began chanting

"Extermino id animus. Verto id in-" Amy began,

"Would you just shut up!" Willow yelled, slapping her across the face violently. Amy just stared into Willow's eyes, trying so hard to restrain herself from killing the girl on sight, "I've decided to give you a choice, Amy. You can stop this, and we can go our separate ways without any trouble… What do you say?" Her expression had softened considerably. She was now looking at Amy with a look of hope and forgiveness instead of hatred and brute force.

"Willow, I am so glad that you said that. While you were gone, I really had the time to think about everything that's going on between us. I realized something very important…" Willow took a step closer, noticing that Amy's voice was soft and sweet, "I know now that just going out and killing Kennedy wouldn't be the right thing for me to do." Willow let out a small sigh of relief.

"Thank you Amy…" Willow said releasing the restraints from her. Amy stood and brushed herself off.

"Oh, Willow. You didn't let me finish." Willow raised an eyebrow and waited to hear more, "I decided that just going out and killing Kennedy wouldn't be right…" Willow bowed her head, waiting to hear what she was waiting for. Amy lifter her head and her voice grew deeper, "So I'm going to kill each and every one of your little pals, leaving your sad excuse for a girlfriend for last." Willow lifted her head slowly, catching Amy's eyes. Amy looked upon her, only to find that instead of being struck with fear and hate, she was smiling. "What's so funny, red?"

"I was just waiting for a reasonable excuse." Willow plunged a large dagger into Amy, causing her to scream out in pain and double over onto the ground. Amy began shaking from her laughter. Her voice carried throughout the air and it surrounded Willow.

"See you soon…" Amy fell down completely without making another move.

"Can't wait…" Willow mumbled as her surroundings began to blur once more. Her eye's opened and she was returned to the bus. Her surroundings were exactly the same as they were when she went into the dream. She was still in Kennedy's arms.

Willow had fallen into her dream-state the night before, had a brief brake as the sun was beginning to set, and had just woken up for the final time as the sun was rising. Willow felt the urge to stretch, but she didn't want to wake Kennedy.

"Hey… You awake?" Willow whispered, wincing slightly as the volume of her voice.

"Yep. And I'm guessing you are too." Kennedy smiled at the redhead. The two of them sat up at once, allowing Willow a moment to stretch, "I've been up all night, actually." Willow just gave her a concerned look, "Couldn't exactly sleep with you all unconscious and what-not." Kennedy couldn't look Willow in the eye, due to her nervousness. Instead, she opted to just fiddling with the hem of her shirt and avoiding eye contact.

"About that… I know I haven't exactly explained all of this to you, or anyone really, but I'll answer every question you have." Willow put her hand on Kennedy's knee, catching the slayer's attention.

"It's okay, Will. I got the gist of it."

"You did? How?" Willow just stared into her eyes, a little confused at her sudden knowledge of the situation.

"Well, I know that it's from the curse Amy put on you and that it never got removed." Willow nodded in agreement, "But I just can't believe you didn't tell me about this… Could you really not trust me?"

"No! It wasn't that at all!" Willow turned towards her and held Kennedy's hand in her own, "I didn't tell anyone about it because it would only make things worse. I didn't want to risk anything, when it might have not even been a threat." Willow could see how hurt Kennedy was by this, even though she was trying very hard to hide it. Kennedy was never really good at hiding what was on her mind, at least not when it came to Willow. Normally she could fool anyone, but not the redhead. Willow knew that their connection had grown after she did the slayer-spell, and that made their relationship instantly stronger.

"Look Kennedy… I know what you're thinking-" Willow began.

"What? You're reading my mind? Because that's a bit-" Kennedy's eyes grew wide, knowing that she was just thinking about her feelings for the witch.

"No! I didn't mean literally!" Willow thought for a moment, "Although if I tried I probably could-"

"No thanks… continue?"

"I'm just trying to think of an easy way to explain this. I don't really know where to start."

"Start from the beginning."

"Well… Basically Amy and I used to be friends, until she steered me into dark magic. She got really upset when I told her I didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore." Willow continued, "And I guess her cursing me the night that we were at the Bronze was her way of revenge."

"Why would she want revenge? It's not like you did anything to hurt her." "I think she's mad because of Rack…" Willow finally realized why Amy was so upset.

"Who?" Kennedy was getting a little confused with all of the information being explained at once.

"The guy who dealt with the dark magic." Willow could tell Kennedy was still a little lost, "Think of magic as a drug… And Amy was already addicted when I was friends with her. But once she took me to the guy who dealt it, he would only sell it to her if I was there."

"Okay, I get the drug part," Kennedy way still straitening out the facts, "But why would he only sell it to Amy when you were there?"

"Because he's crazy and he said I taste like strawberries…" Willow shivered slightly at the thought of the man and Kennedy laughed a little, trying to contain her giggles.

"What's so funny?" Willow asked.

"Nothing. It's just," Kennedy giggled a little more, "he was right."

"About what?" She gave Kennedy a confused look, slightly worried about what the Brunette might say.

"The strawberry thing." Kennedy laughed and Willow smacked her playfully on the shoulder.

"Anyway…" Willow was still blushing a little from Kennedy's brashness, "The curse she put on me is meant to activate whenever I feel guilty about something. So when you kissed me that night, I felt like I was betraying Tara-"

"Willow, I never meant to make you feel like-" Kennedy began.

"I know, sweetie." Willow stopped her, knowing that she would only blame herself, "After you told me the curse Amy was talking about, I researched it for weeks."

"You researched it alone?"

"Yep."

"Then how did Giles and Dawn know?" Kennedy never took her eye's away from Willow's.

"Well, Giles went to research The First in some of the books I was using. But when he opened one of the books a few of my notes fell out." Willow continued, "And because a curse has nothing to do with The First, he came to me about it."

"And Dawn?" Kennedy wanted to know everything that she could about the curse. She was already feeling slightly self-conscious about herself because willow had not come to her. But, although she was a little uncomfortable, she was willing to trust Willow's words and do whatever she could to help her.

"Dawn is a completely different story. I had just found out that the curse is supposed to be permanent, and Dawn walked into the room and asked me what I was up to." Willow gave an awkward smile, "And, being that I was holding my feelings out on my sleeve, I told her everything. Just threw it all out there for her to hear. She was a little lost at first, but she caught on just after I told her not to tell anyone about it."

The conversation went on for a about an hour without stopping; Kennedy had so many questions. Finally the bus stopped at a gas station and the survivors began shuffling off, hoping to get their chance to use the bathroom and stretch their legs.


	4. The End of the Very long Bus Ride

_Hey everyone! I've be so unbelievably busy the past few weeks, and the only time I have to write is in the middle of the night; which unfortunately leads to even less sleep._

_I will defiantly try my best to continue this story and post chapters more often! I promise!_

_And yeah I know, you've all heard the excuse before of "Sorry I haven't been posting! I'm so busy!" But this time is is very very true._

_School is hard work guys!_

_So please read and review! I haven't gone anywhere, so the chapters should keep coming regularly._

Finally the bus stopped at a gas station and the survivors began shuffling off, hoping to get their chance to use the bathroom and stretch their legs. Vi helped Rona off the bus and over to a bench in front of the small store. Robin took a seat next to her, enjoying the shaded breeze passing through.

Just as Willow and Kennedy stepped off, Willow she heard her friends voice all her name from inside the bus.

"You go ahead," Willow let go of Kennedy's hand and gestured towards the gas station, "I'll meet you inside in a sec."

Kennedy simply nodded and gave the redhead a smile as she headed inside the Food Mart.

Giles walked into the store and bought several large containers of water and a pack of tissues.

"What's that for?" Kennedy asked as the walked up next to him.

"Well I'm sure everyone is extremely thirsty." Giles stated bluntly.

"yeah, I figured that part." She retorted, "I meant the tissues." She pointed to the small plastic packet.

"Oh, yes." He smiled at the packet as he picked it up, "I've been craving something clean to wipe my glasses on." Several new slayers giggled in the background.

"Of course you have…" Kennedy sounded slightly disappointed that the idea wasn't obvious to her. The watcher wiped his glasses at every chance he got.

"What?" Giles looked after her and between the slayers in the sir-conditioned store, "Did I say something funny?"

The girls just snickered and walked outside.

Kennedy walked over to the water and grabbed two of the 10-gallon containers as she headed back out to the bus. She set the 166 pounds of water down and headed back inside for the rest.

"Hey guys." Willow said stepping back onto the bus and meeting all of the worried faces on board.

"Hey." Buffy's voice was full of worry, "You okay? Because you've kinda had us hanging for a while now."

"Yeah" Dawn began, "but you might want to take a seat first." Everyone gave her a weird look, "It's a long story."

Willow explained everything that she had told Kennedy from start to finish, sparing her friends the flirty details and the handholding.

"So where does that leave us now?" Buffy said unfolding her arms and standing up next to her friend, "I mean, Amy must be on her way here right now. We should find a place to stay and prepare for whatever she has to throw at us."

"And you're sure she said she was going to kill all of us?" Xander chimed in, "not thrill? In some sort of party fashion?"

"No, she said kill. I'm sure of it." Willow said quietly, "But Amy won't be able to get to us for several days. We can stay the night here in town without much of a problem. That'll give us a chance to give the injured some real medical attention and hopefully get something to eat."

"Sounds good to me." Buffy turned to everyone else, "I'm going to go stretch my legs. Anyone wanna come with?"

"Sure." Dawn stood and stepped off the bus.

"A walk couldn't hurt." Xander followed close behind, with his Slayer friend in tow.

As the three stepped off the bus Kennedy made her way back on. She spotted Willow standing in the isle of the bus facing the back and writing a few things down on a small pad of white paper.

Kennedy silently and swiftly made her way over to the witch and slowly snaked her arms around her waist.

"Eep!" Willow jumped slightly and made a high-pitched noise. The dropped the pen and shoved the paper into her pocket, "You scared me!"

"Good." Kennedy kissed her shoulder lightly and caught the smell of the redhead's skin.

"What's up?" Willow asked, wondering if something might be wrong.

"Nothin' just got bored outside. I figured there were much more interesting people on the bus." Kennedy smiled as she let her head rest on her shoulder.

"Well I'm glad you came back. I don't like being on this bus alone." Willow made an uncomfortable face, "it smells weird."

"Well you're not alone."

"Not since you can back."

"No, I mean Faith is still on the bus." Kennedy took a few steps forward and leaned over to see Faith sitting low in one of the bus seats, "But she's sleeping."

"How did you know she was there?" Willow followed her, "I thought she was outside with the others." "I could hear her breathing." Kennedy said as if it completely normal to hear someone breathing quietly from several yards away.

"Wow…" Willow was quite astonished by this. She never heard Buffy complain about things getting too loud when she got her slayer powers. _It must be because her power is new and she can't control it as much. _Willow thought to herself as the two returned to the place they were standing before.

"Anyway…" Kennedy trailed off the topic, "How are you feeling? Still tired from the dreamstate?"

"I'm actually surprising energetic. How about you? How does it feel to be a slayer?" Willow smiled knowingly at the dark haired girl.

"Everything feels different." It became silent as Kennedy thought for a moment, "Everything's brighter and feels different. Soft things feel softer and rough things feel harsher. And I can hear everything around me." She took a few steps toward Willow and closed her eyes, letting the silence of the bus sink into both of them. Because of their closeness, the only thing Willow could hear was Kennedy's breathing. Knowing that the slayer's hot breath was practically on her neck was causing her to get a little nervous and uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" Willow said softly as the two stood nearly touching.

"I can hear your heartbeat." Kennedy smiled as she opened her eyes and caught the gaze of the green eyes before her. She was trying to resist lunging in and kissing her on the spot. The redhead was so beautiful, and because of their closeness Kennedy could smell the sweet aroma of Willow's shampoo. _Lavender…_ Kennedy mentally hummed.

"That sounds like an amazing gift to have." Willow said absentmindedly.

"Well I can already tell that it has its down sides." Kennedy sat down in the seat next to her, letting her legs stay pointing out into the walkway so that she could face Willow. Kennedy took a few deep breaths trying to calm the excess amounts of dirty thoughts running through her mind.

"Oh yeah?" Willow turned towards her and leaned up against the side of the seat behind her, "Like what?" Willow genuinely had no idea.

"Well one thing that's really been bothering be is the Double H's." Kennedy sighed as she thought about it more.

"What are the Double H's?" Willow was a bit lost in the topic; she forgot that Faith was still there.

"Hungry and Horny." Faith said as the slowly stood up and stretched her arms above her head.

"What?" Willow turned her head towards the former rogue slayer.

"The Double H's are Hungry and Horny." Faith smiled as she slowly hade her way over to them, "I told the potentials about it a few days ago."

"Yep." Kennedy confirmed it, "And it's already bugging me and it hasn't even been a week."

"Sorry Junior. But it comes with every fight. You get a few punches in and before you know it you just can't sit still." Faith slid past the couple and began down the steps, "Hey red, maybe you can help Kennedy with that problem?" She laughed as she stepped of the bus completely and made her way to the others. Willow blushed and let her gaze fall to her shoes.

Kennedy began admiring the details of the redhead. The way her hair fell on her shoulders, the way that she smiled at her, and even the way she stood in front of her. Kennedy was normally known for being like Faith: Get some and get gone. But with Willow everything was different. Willow wasn't some fling to her; she never would be.

"Faith can be pretty blunt sometimes." Kennedy gave an awkward chuckle.

"Well you're not exactly known for taking everything slow." Willow smiled back at her.

"Well life is short." Kennedy stood up and stepped over to Willow, practically invading her space, "And I figure that you save a lot of time by skipping the slow part."

"I guess I can understand that." Willow pondered it for a moment, "But I still don't understand where it all comes from. I mean come on… I'm known for analyzing everything. And you just make such bold moves sometimes and I don't know where you get it. It's like-" Willow was cut off by the dark haired slayer's lips on hers. They both got lost in the kiss for a moment, but Kennedy broke it just as suddenly as it began.

"Like that?" Kennedy smiled at the flustered look of lust in the ginger's eyes.

Without any verbal response, Willow slipped her hand around Kennedy's neck and pulled her back in for another kiss. Willow let out a soft moan as she felt the slayer's lips moving on hers, and another more pronounced moan when she felt Kennedy's tongue ring moving around her mouth.

The two girls got so tangles up in each other that the didn't realize Buffy was getting the others back on the bus to start heading for the hotel. Buffy got up the steps and looked down the isle to see the two girls making out in the middle of the bus. Buffy stopped so abruptly that Rona practically walked into her.

"What the hell?" Rona let her aggressiveness show.

"Off the bus." Buffy said quietly and gestured for everyone to back up.

"why?" Rona asked, being a bit pushy.

"Just back off the bus." Buffy whispered to her.

"Nah! If there's something on the bus it's for everyone to know about." Rona pushed past Buffy and turned to see the two girls devouring each other. "Oh…" She was at a loss for words.

"Yeah…" Buffy said, "Satisfied?"

"That's hot." Rona continued to stare at the couple.

The girls heard her and quickly broke apart, revealing the redness of the witch's cheeks. "Do you always have to say that?" Buffy put her hands on her hips and stepped to the side slightly, letting everyone else onto the bus and into their seats.

"I don't know… I guess." Rona smiled, bemused at the blonde's question.

About 20 minutes later the bus stopped in front of a large hospital. During the trip Buffy had talked to Willow about the plans for the next day or two. She also took her to the side for a moment and asked her about the note that Willow had handed to her if anything were to happen to her while in the dreamstate. Willow told her to keep the note and to still give it to Kennedy if the situation were to occur again. She handed Buffy another note that she had been writing earlier that day.

"Looks like we're here!" Robin yelled to everyone in the bus. The group began shuffling off one at a time, waiting for instruction of where to go next.

_I know it was a bit of a slow chapter... But it's just a filler chapter for what is to come next. Which is some more action/drama, and less conversation about the the action/drama._

_Please leave reviews! I would love to know what you are thinking._

_-Tiffany_


	5. Hospital Greetings

_HEY GUYS! I know, I know... "Where the hell have you been?"_

_Well I blame my (extremely) delayed posting on the fact the my computer is absolutely horrible for writing on. I've also gotten myself into a relationship, which is a lot more distracting than I thought it would be._

_I've also been fighting some serious writers block, but I've written out a few outlines for the next several chapters, so those should be coming a lot more regularly._

_But enough of my whining! Here's the next chapter!_

The hospital sat in relative silence; there was no big emergency and no one was bleeding all over the place. That is, until the bus pulled up.

Giles led the group off the bus, up the walkway, and through the front doors of the hospital, making sure to catch the attention of the awaiting nurses and their staff with a sudden swinging of both doors. The surgical staff noticed them right away.

One of the doctors saw the blood on Buffy's shirt and lead her over to a small room just off to the side. It was obvious she had a stab wound, and it could have been getting worse and worse by the minute. Giles followed the two into the room while the group slowly broke up into separate rooms throughout the hallway.

"What happened?" the doctor asked, lifting up Buffy's shirt and peeling away the Goss.

"Uh…" Buffy looked Giles in the eye, hoping to receive some sort of excuse; she got nothing, "A-a car accident." Giles stared her down.

"A car accident?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… yeah," she swallowed hard, "A car accident. B-but it was an accident."

"Mhm," the doctor raised an eyebrow and wrote a few things down on his chart, "Well I'll just leave you here until the nurse comes by to pack your wound… And to talk to you about your car accident that was just an accident…"

"Hehe… Thanks." Buffy exhaled as the man walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Giles shouted in a hushed voice.

"I don't know! He caught me off guard! You're the one who is supposed to talk about these things! You know I'm not good with the talking!"

"Well usually you can hold your own in a conversation," he wiped off his glasses, "I mean we all know you like the sound of your own voice, but your lectures usually go in some sort of concrete direction, not just blubbering about like an idiot!"

"I was _not _blubbering!"

"It doesn't matter," he replaced his glassed on his face, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, "The point is that now we all have to come up with the same cover story."

"Well I'm sure you'll come up with a great-"

"I'm going to go help the others. I'll leave the story to you."

"What?" Buffy's eyes grew wide and she slouched slightly, resembling a child in front of a parent.

"Buffy I'm leaving this to you. I have plenty of things to do with the council and the watchers. Plus I have a few more things to talk with Willow about. The situation with Amy isn't going to disappear, and I think there are a few things we can do to prepare for her next appearance, but I'm going to need her help," he paused from his rant, "I'm leaving this to you because I know you can handle it. It's not a very big task and I'm sure you'll fare quite well on your own. I know social matters aren't in the Slayer description, but they are in the Buffy description." He smiled at her.

"Fine…"

"Very well then." He turned to his left and began walking down the hall to find the others.

"I was _not _blubbering!" she called after him.

"Were too!" He answered back.

Willow handed Kennedy a cup of coffee and sat down, letting out a large sigh the moment she hit the cushion.

"Tired?" Kennedy asked, sipping the drink.

"Just tired of the waiting. We've been here for hours and they still haven't told us anything about Rona or Wood."

"I'm sure they're fine. Rona only had a broken arm, I'm sure they're just trying to find the time to wrap it." The slayer grabbed Willow's hand and held it tight.

"I don't know about that," Vi piped up, "during the fight I saw her get hit on the head pretty hard. I was surprised she even got up."

"Yeah, and she was stumbling pretty badly when the school was collapsing." Andrew said while opening a bag of skittles and popping a few into his mouth and offering some to the girls on either side of him.

The waiting room was filled with every member of the group that had already been tended to. Willow was fine, along with Kennedy, but a few like Giles, Buffy, Xander, Vi, and Andrew had just small bruises and cuts that need tending to. Giles had a cut on his head that needed a stitch or two, and Buffy's stab wound had healed internally, but needed a few staples on the surface. Lucky for her, the sword didn't puncture anything that would damage her in the long run. For now all she had to do was relax and try not to pop her stitches.

Willow sighed and slumped into the chair, leaning her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

Inside O.R.1 Robin was out cold on the table. Surrounding him were 2 surgeons and a team of surgical nurses, aiding on the hand and foot. The principal was hooked up to several machines, each making their own distinct beeping noises and emitting their own colorful numbers on a screen at his bedside.

He was stabbed in his lower back and in his leg. He had a dislocated shoulder, which he must have popped back in himself, because the swelling was caused from an amateur fix.

"He has some massive internal bleeding next to his aorta. If the pressure gets to be too much, his aorta might rupture.." One of the women pointed out.

"I'm going to need to open him up," The man across from her sighed, "10 blade."

The nurse at his right handed him the blade and he began the cardiac surgery.

"He has fluid spreading in his pericardium." The nurse handed the surgeons several different clamps and pads.

Wood's heart rate began to beat softer and his jugular began to bulge from the build up.

"He's going into cardiac tampanode-"

The surgical team broke into a hustle and the surgeons never let their eyes leave the surgical sight even for a moment as they cut deeper into the former Principal.

*beeeeeeep* The long note filled the room as every person surrounding the table lat their eyes widen with fear and panic.

"Family of... Robin Wood?"

"Yeah?" Faith stood and folded her arms tightly as she walked over to the solemn- faced doctor. She saw the expression fall slightly on the woman's face and the slayer took every remaining step with an added amount of stiffness.

"And you are?" The girl looked down at her chart, remembering that she had no one written for his relatives.

"His-uh… Well…" She stammered, not knowing exactly what to tell her. She knew that the woman wouldn't tell me much if she said friend, but she wasn't officially his girlfriend.

"Yes?" The woman pressed for an answer.

"Sister." She furrowed her eyebrows and held her breath, knowing that there was almost no way they looked related.

"His," the nurse searched Faith's eyes for some sort of truth buried in the uncertainty, "…Sister?"

"Yes," G came up behind them and placed a hand on Faith's shoulder, "Half sister." The girl didn't look very convinced so he quickly began backing up the story, "His father left his mother in New York at a young age and found her mother in San Francisco a few years later. Up until now the two have been separated, but unfortunately both of their parents have passed away, so please, if you would be so kind as to tell us what has been going on, it would be much appreciated. Neither of them have much family left, it would be nice to have this hospital help them out a little, don't you think?" He finished off his rampage with a slight smile of accomplishment.

"Absolutely, sir." The nurse let turned slightly, "Right this was the-" "Faith." She finished for her.

"Alright Faith, this way then," the girl smiled at Faith as they made their was down the hall to discuss Wood, "I'm Jackie."

_Horrible cut? I thought you might think that... Sorry... I ended it an a bit of a weird note. But I did it in a good place. The "I'm Jackie" is more important that you may think._

_But we'll see..._

_I just wanted you guys to know I haven't died, become illiterate, lost my mind, or given up on my writing! It's a big part of me and I don't intend on quitting any time soon!_

_So please rate and review! Thank you very much for your patience!_

_-Tiffany_


	6. Moving Along

_Well everyone, I'm back. I planned on taking a short break but it ended up turning into a very long break. I got a full-time summer job and I went away for a week to visit my family, so that took up a lot of time that I wasn't expecting on losing._

_I'm sorry it's been so long, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things because I'm starting school again in a few weeks._

_I hope you enjoy it-_

"Yeah… And could you book another two rooms? We have a few more people than I thought… Thank you… Thank you… Okay, bye."

Three days had passed and everyone that had been packing the lobby had crammed into 3 tiny hotel rooms. Everyone had to share a bed with at least one other person, if not two. Rona was released and had stayed the third night in a room with Buffy and Vi. All information on the former principal was kept as quiet as possible. Giles had been pressing for more information, but the staff wasn't ready to release anything to him because Giles wasn't one of Wood's family members. Faith was too afraid to ask about him, fearing the fact that she might loose another person from Sunnydale.

Because Giles had finally been able to get a hold on the council's finances, he gave Willow the go-ahead to book a nicer place and to get everyone into a less-cramped room.

"So do we have the rooms all booked up for tonight?" Kennedy came up behind the witch and slipped her hands around her waist.

"Yep," Willow turned around in her girlfriend's arms, "And guess what."

"They have an ice machine?"

"No. Well… Yes. But no," Willow wrapped her arms around Kennedy's neck and pulled her a few inches closer, "We have our own room."

"Just the two of us?" Kennedy's eyes lit up.

"Yep." Willow smiled.

"With a lock and everything?" the slayer's voice went up like that of a child.

"Yep," Willow whispered into her ear, "It has locks, a bed, a shower, and even an ice machine."

Kennedy pulled Willow into a kiss and deepened it a few moments later, "Well, what are we waiting for?" the slayer was getting antsy at the redhead's touch.

"We have to wait for Wood and Giles to finish the paper work for the paperwork for the hospital bills and rights."

"Eww… paperwork…" Kennedy cringed and the thought of sitting down and writing for hours. She was always more of an action girl.

The couple carried on with their small talk as they, once again, took their seats in the waiting room.

…Three days before…

*beeeeeeep* The long note filled the room as every person surrounding the table lat their eyes widen with fear as they froze.

"Push Epi-!" the woman standing at the side walked over and took over, "first year surgeons…" she sighed to herself at the amateurs that were operating before her.

"He's crashing, Doctor."

"Paddles." She pulled her hands back and grabbed the paddles from the man next to her, "Clear!"

*Boom* his body felt the shock and jumped slightly

* beeeeeeep*

"Charge to 200… Clear!"

*Boom* he jumped again…

*Beep… beep….beep…beep…* The staff let out a sigh of relief and continued their work.

…An hour later…

"I'm Jackie…"

Faith gave the girl a small smile and walked at her side through a set of double doors, "Listen, I'm sorry about that back there. He can be kind of… protective sometimes."

"I'm sure it's only because he has a lot going on." Jackie didn't mind the watcher's rant. She was used to the dozens of people yelling at her every time a surgery got risky. Being that Jackie was normally put in charge of talking to the families of the chronic surgical patience, she got yelled at quite often.

"How would you know?" Faith was curious about how she knew that Giles was handling most of this.

"Well he's been taking care of paperwork and medical bills for several patience. I'm sure that's a lot to deal with for one person."

"Oh yeah, that… Well everyone he's signed for has a large group of friends in the lobby. He's not completely alone in here." Faith had completely forgotten about the idea of the paperwork and the plans to be made in case Robin didn't—she choked up a little.

"Well," Jackie tried to avoid the awkward silence she felt coming, "Robin is in here," she gestured to the door they were stopped outside of, "and because you're his- _sister_- you're allowed to see him if you want."

"Yeah." Faith pushed her hands deep into her jean pockets. She knew that she wanted to see him, but she was unsure about what to expect. If he was nearing his end, she didn't want her last image of him in a hospital gown, attached to a dozen machines, with a tube down his throat, "I'll just think about it for now…"

"Alright," Jackie understood where the slayer was coming from, "If you have any questions just ask. I'll be in the room a two doors down." She turned to leave.

"I-is it bad?" Faith called after her.

Jackie turned around and met the slayer's eyes, "Is what bad?"

"Wood," Faith tried to find a new set of words, but she stuck to the same few, "Is it bad. Is _he _bad."

"Go in and see for yourself." Jackie smiled and nodded towards the door.

"I don't think I can."

"Trust me, if anything were to happen to him, you will regret not seeing him."

"Sounds like you've gone through this before, huh?" Faith leaned against the wall.

"When I was 15 I was in a car accident," She paused, "With my mom."

"I'm so sorry."

"Drunk driver sped into the driver's-side door and we spun completely around and got pinned against a wall," Jackie's eyes filled with tears but she bit them back and continued, "I tried to reach over to help my mom, but the seatbelt was jammed and my door was against the brick wall. I couldn't get out. When the ambulance got there they took us to the hospital. I was fine, but she-" Her lip trembled and she tried not to start shaking.

"You don't have to-" Faith tried to stop her, but Jackie was dead-set on finishing the story of her mother.

"It's okay," She took a breath and gained her composure, "She was immediately put in intensive care. They told me I could go see her, but I was scared. So I waited. And I waited too long."

"So you're saying this might be it? I might never see him again?"

"Go in and see for yourself." She repeated the phrase.

Faith took in a deep breath and turned the knob and let it swing open. The moment she saw Wood lying in the bed her breath hitched in her throat and she lost all train of thought.

"_He's fine. Oh my god, he's fine!" _Faith internally said to herself.

Faith turned around and saw Jackie smiling at her.

"Gotcha." She said as she turned and walked towards the front desk with a huge grin on her face.

"_That Bitch…" _Faith watched as the doctor left.

"Hey." Wood lifted his head a little and the moment he saw it was Faith his eyes lit up and he let out the soft greeting.

"Hey yourself." She closed the door and slowly made her way to the bedside.

"So how am I doing? Any big news from the doctors?" He smiled at the brunette, letting his bright white teeth show.

"You gave us quite the scare." Her voice was soft and she avoided eye contact at every possible point. She could feel the tears threatening to flood her eyes as she spoke again, "Y-you gave _me_ quite the scare."

"Hey," He reached over and held her hand in his, "I made a promises didn't I?"

She looked slightly confused.

"I promised to show you what it's like to be with a real man. Not a 'get some, get gone' guy… A gentlemen."

She looked him in the eyes and smiled.

… Two day's later…

"So you're sure he is okay to leave? I mean he's not going to have some sort of heart attack in the middle of the night or something?" Faith joked around with the nurses that were having Wood sign some papers at his bedside.

"I don't look that bad, do I?" He smiled at her.

"He should be fine Miss Lehane. Don't worry about him. Just let him get lots of rest and make sure he takes his medication when he needs it." The doctor took the clipboard from Wood and signed a few things.

"When exactly does he need them?"

"This one every 3 hours," the doctor held up a small orange container, "two of his one if the incision on his chest hurts, and this one before bed every night. Make sure he goes to bed at the same time, otherwise the medication won't be taken at the same time."

"Will do." Faith placed the 3 bottles back into the small plastic bag they were originally in and recited the dosage the woman had explained to her over in her head.

"Here's your copy of the bill and the registration forms." The woman handed the papers to Robin, who took them with a smile, "You'll be allowed to leave first thing in the morning."

"Thanks." Robin said as the woman confirmed his departure.

"Hey," Faith called after the woman as she turned to leave.

"Yes?" the girl turned around.

"Thanks, Jackie." Faith gave her a small smile of approval.

"No problem. Have a good night you two." The girl gave Faith a smile in return.

"Goodnight" they both said in unison.

"Oh, and Faith?" The girl paused.

"Yeah?"

"Visiting hours ended 2 hours ago," Jackie checked her watch and winced at it reading _11:00_, "Unless you want security guards dragging you out on their routine walk through, you best be getting out or finding a place to hide."

"Haha that's alright. I'm sure Robin can handle himself one more night," She turned and the two smiled at each other, "besides I told B I would check in with everyone at the hotel. Apparently we're already making plans for the next week or so because of Amy."

"Amy?" Jackie hadn't heard of Amy before.

"Uhh…" Robin stuttered for an answer, "She-"

"Our cousin. Very sick. Lives just outside of town." Faith finished off in a jumble of blunt phrases.

"Yeah. Amy. Sick. We're going to visit." Robin said.

"Alright," Jackie looked at the two suspiciously, "Well I hope she gets well soon."

"Night Jackie." Faith said to the girl, who rounded the corner, leaving the couple behind.

They let out an elongated sigh of relief.

_Thanks for reading ^_^_

_Rate and Review. I'd love to know if there is anyone still out there who even remembers this story._

_Till next time,_

_-Tiffany_


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